Dayton Does Town Hall Minnesota

I have been a long-time promoter of the idea of Town Hall Minnesota, a structured setting in which ordinary citizens can question elected officials.

To his credit, Minnesota’s Democrat Governor Mark Dayton has embraced the town hall concept and is now ¾ of the way through another such tour of the state.  By all accounts, the events have been well attended and, perhaps, even productive.

It seems that the Governor receives feedback on these out-state trips that he is not receiving (or heeding) back in St. Paul.

You may recall that, in July 2011, Dayton decided to end the state government shutdown while still in the midst of a statewide tour selling his side of the story. 

Update on Goodhue County Wind

State Representatives Steve Drazkowski and Tim Kelly, along with State Senator John Howe, have an opinion piece in today's Minneapolis Star Tribune about the Goodhue County wind project.

Also, another blogger has posted about the Wednesday meeting with the local utility.  It includes all the details that I left out of my account.

Town Hall Minnesota In Action

I wish I could take credit for the idea, or even the execution, of the meeting I attended as an interested spectator this afternoon.  It was pure Town Hall Minnesota in action.

Two officials of the state's largest electric utility came to Belle Creek Township, Minnesota (population 437), to answer questions about a controversial wind farm project proposed for the surrounding Goodhue County, which lies about an hour southeast of Minneapolis-St. Paul.  The wind farm is being developed by a third-party with the output to be sold to the utility, under contract.  The utility officials were there to answer questions from concerned citizens after touring the area with the meeting organizers, who are opponents of the project and live within the proposed project's footprint.

The meeting literally took place within a town hall.  Not just any town hall, but this one,

a one-room meeting place for the Township's citizens.  Several dozen people, including families and children, packed the space to standing-room-only capacity.

As they themselves acknowledged, the utility officials were not necessarily giving the answers the local citizens wanted to hear.  But from where I was sitting, I thought both sides acquitted themselves well.  Questions from the meeting organizers and audience were without exception well-informed, sometimes pointed, but more often then not, delivered with humor.  Answers were informative, respectful and acknowledging of the seriousness of the occasion.  I doubt anyone left the room happy, but I suspect just about everyone left better informed.

The utility officials answered questions for almost 2 hours on topics ranging from the science behind noise pollution, to the roles of state regulators and regulated companies, to dairy farm operations in springtime conditions and just about everything else under the sun.

Attending as audience members were the local State Senator and State Representative (I apologize if there were other elected officials there that I did not recognize), but the event was centered on the local citizens and their questions.  It was Minnesota at its finest.

More calls for less democracy

I have to say that the more I re-read this editorial from the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the more disturbed I get.

On its surface, it merely calls for elected officials to make tough decisions regarding a new pro football stadium for the state.

Deeper down, it shows a profound distrust on the part of the editors for democracy and the ability of the people to govern themselves.

Take, as an example, this passage,

"You could make a long list of important civic projects that never would have happened if they had been the subject of a referendum."

Really, I'd like to see that list.  It probably contains a number of projects that should have never been built.

But check out the contempt expressed in these few sentences,

"That judgment is best made by elected officials with the benefit of time to deliberate and the widest possible array of information and knowledgeable advice.  They must ultimately answer to voters, of course.  But when voters decide such questions directly, it is too easy for short-term passions to take the place of calm consideration for the long-term interests of the entire community."

Of course.  In my view, the people themselves know the long-term interests of their community.  And they are not subject to pressure from special interests (like land-owning newspapers).  But the above passage is amazing for its show of faith in the political elite.

More Democracy a Good Thing, Even for Stadia

I take no position on the issue of a new stadium for the Vikings NFL team, but I am in favor of more democracy, not less.  So hearing that a county-wide vote on paying for the facility "could doom the deal" does not warm my heart.  If you want the people's money, you must let the people decide.

The Budget Debate: Live on MPR

The budget debate is going on live at the Minnesota Public Radio website.  David Strom of the Minnesota Free Market Institute and John Van Hecke of Minnesota 2020 are squaring off on the causes of the state budget deficit. 

This public, head-to-head discussion is just the sort of thing we have too little of in our public discourse.  I encourage one and all to follow the progress of the debate as it unfolds this week.

The Budget Debate: Now What?

Now that we apparently have an end to Minnesota's budget impasse, we can turn our attention to what happens next.  I am convinced of the need for serious reform/redesign on how all government services are delivered.

Sean Kershaw, head of Minnesota's Citizens League, has an opinion piece in today's Minneapolis Star Tribune headlined "Will Minnesotans write a better future?"

Quoting Sean,

"We need dramatic program reforms and a conversation about the proper role of government in our new demographic and economic landscape."

"We lack the places and opportunities in all types of institutions -- not just government -- to identify, discuss and reconcile our policy differences: to create common ground for the common good. In many ways, it's this simple."

Sean, of course, plugs his group as a solution.  The League does serious and helpful work, and I am happy to continue my participation.  However, I humbly suggest "Town Hall Minnesota" as an additional tool for bringing people together.

Town Hall Athens?

Via InstaPundit, a report of spontaneous democracy breaking out amidst the anarchy in Greece.

"Amid all the economic misery, unemployment, slashed payrolls, and indecision about the future, they are holding ongoing discussions in the main square where anyone — just like in ancient Greece — is allowed to voice opinions without repercussions.  They have established an ancient Greek agora, where Socrates, Plato, and their contemporaries created the world’s first democracy.  They hold daily seminars and discussions in search of a way forward.  Instead of joining the anarchists, these protesters are conducting intelligent, serious discussions."

Updated: Budget Debate Meets Town Hall Minnesota

I was lucky enough to attend a "town hall"-type meeting this evening.  My state representative, Keith Downey (R-Edina), met with representatives of labor unions and the public at the Edina Community Center.  The event lasted for 90 minutes and the space was standing room only.  I thought that both Rep. Downey and the union participants were thoughtful and respectful.  Of course, a few in the crowd were rather animated at times, but overall I thought the event was a useful dialog on the budget situation in Minnesota.

I'm sure that not everyone in the crowd was happy with Rep. Downey's answers.  But knowing Keith, as I do, his answers are just what he really believes.  I will be interested to see the perspective of media and others who attended and I will link to those reactions here.

Update:

• Here is the Channel 9 coverage.  As TV has to do, it emphasizes the conflict.  The story led off the 9 o'clock news.
• Here is the Minnesota Public Radio piece.  From my recollection of the event, this coverage hits closer to the mark.
• The Union view, with more links
• Edina Patch.com

From the Edina Patch.com website:

That's me in the white shirt and dark blazer towards the left.

The Budget Debate, Part 5

The Star Tribune's Lori Sturdevant writes about the Budget Debate in today's paper.  Not surprisingly, she sides with the Governor.

What is surprising is how she frames the issue as Jefferson vs. Hamilton, as town-hall democracy vs. aristocracy.  Unfortunately, she gets who is on which team exactly backwards.  And after invoking Jefferson and town meetings, she spends the remainder of her column faithfully transcribing the Governor's talking points about tax fairness, etc.

By all means, let's frame the debate in terms of bottom up democracy vs. top down aristocracy:  but let us reconsider who is the aristocrat seeking to impose his noblesse oblige on us poor hapless taxpayers.

Flashback: Walter Russell Mead and his Crystal Ball

In his post yesterday reflecting on Palm Sunday (worth reading), Walter Russell Mead links to a series of posts he did in early 2010, predicting ten trends for the next decade under the theme of the accelerating pace of change.  All are worth reading, but perhaps my favorite is number 4, which touches on themes of direct democracy.

Mead writes, "Generally speaking, the smaller a political unit, the less vexing democracy turns out to be."

Town Hall Meeting in St. Cloud, Saturday Morning

State. Rep. King Banaian and others are hosting a Town Hall Meeting for Senate Districts 14 and 15 this Saturday in St. Cloud at the Whitney Senior Center from 9 to 11 a.m.

Jefferson vs. Hamilton

Both Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton were great Americans.  But their contrasting visions for the new nation of America continue to influence our debates today.

Salena Zito writes in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review about "Our New Jeffersonian Era."  I hope so.  For the past two years, as I travel around the state, I have been developing this theme of the need to move more toward the Jeffersonian view.  We are never going to bring back the yeoman farmers of the 18th century (nor should we).  But in the tug-of-war between Hamiltonian centralized, top-down, government by elites and the Jeffersonian decentralized, bottom up, government by the people, I vote for more of the former.

From Ms. Zito,

"Republicans were elected in November not because Americans love Republicans; they were elected because their values are in line with this new Jeffersonian era."

Paul Rahe on the Tea Party Phenomenon

Paul Rahe's article in Commentary magazine February issue provides a useful service by placing the Tea Party phenomenon in a historical context.  Professor Rahe is the author of (among other books) "Soft Despotism, Democracy's Drift: Montesquieu, Rousseau, Tocqueville, and the Modern Prospect".

Key quote:

"A government set at a considerable distance from the people over whom it rules is apt to become a despotism, for it is out of sight and out of mind, beyond reach and beyond control. This the Framers understood. They took heart, however, from the French philosopher’s [Montesquieu] suggestion that a federation of small republics could overcome this geographical imperative."

(Via Power Line)

St. Cloud Times Calls for Town Hall on EDA Proposal

The St. Cloud Times editorial board has called for a Town Hall meeting to be convened on the proposal to create a local economic development authority.  Now I have no opinion on the merits of the EDA proposal, but I am thrilled at the prospect that actual direct democracy may break out in Minnesota.

For about a year, I have been toying with the idea of creating "Town Hall Minnesota":  an organization dedicated to promoting the cause of direct democracy here at home.  Engaging the public in the debate on public issues of the day will lead to better policies, I believe.